Flying machine



l. WILLIAMS.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.4, I919- 1,408,918. Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET ll. WILLIAMS.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.4, 1919.

1,468,918. Patented Mar. 7,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET UNITED STATES ISRAEL WILLIAIKS, OF LIMA, OHIO.

FLYING MACHINE.

eonora Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. '7, 1922.

Application filed January 4, 1919. Serial No. 269,563.-

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ISRAEL \Vnmnmrs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Lima, in the county of Allen and State of Ohio have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in flying machines,objects of the invention being to so construct a flying machine or air ship that it shall have great carrymg capacity; so that it shall be capable of great speed and yet be capable of being run at slow speed or be capable of being floated in the air without being propelled forwardly; so that it shall be easy and safe to land and easy to launch; so that it may be readily managed while in flight, and so that it shall reduce to a minimum the danger of accidents.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing an air ship embodying my improvement; Figure 2 is a front end view, and Figure 3 is a rear end view.

1 represents frame-work which may comprise front and rear vertical bars 23, top bars 5 and bottom bars 6, and within this framework, several decks 7, 8, 9, 10 and .11 are provided and suitably braced by uprights, such as shown at 12. lhe top and bottom bars of the framework are extended beyond the front vertical bars as shown at 13 and 14'. and between these extensions, a rudder 15 is located and suitably journaled. This rudder comprises a frame 16 in which. the rudder blades are mounted and said frame includes in its structure a vertical shaft 1''? mounted in front of the frame-work and in the upper and lower extensions 1314 of the main frame. A bracket 18 is secured to the forward portion of the rudder frame and provides a bearing for the shaft 19 of a forward propeller 20. The shaft 19 is connected, by a knuckle or universal coupling 21 with a driving shaft 22 and the latter is driven from motors 23 lothe medium of a knuckle or universal coupling, thepropeller may be shifted with the rudder and thus assist in controlling the di roetion of travel of the machine. 7

A horizontal shaft 2st is suitably mounted in the framework approximately in line with the longitudinal axis thereof and preferably in a plane above that of the forward propeller shaft. The mounting of the shaft 2% is such that it is susceptible of slight eudwise play, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The shaft 2% extends beyond the rear end of the framework and has a bearing in a bracket 25, and this shaft carries a rear propeller 26. A plurality of motors 2? may be located on the deck 8 and geared by suitable belting: to the shaft 2 f for driving the same and the rear propeller.

The rear end of a bar or non-rotary shaft 28 is connected, by a ball-and-socket or other universal coupling (as shown at 29) with the forward end of the rear propeller shaft 2 1 The bar or shaft 28 extends beyond the forward end of the framework and carries a pinion 30 to mesh with a curved rack 31 which forn'is part of a frame 32 secured to the front vertical bars of said framework. The frame 32 will thus be caused to take the forward thrust or pressure of the rear propeller, and by shifting the bar or shaft up and down, its angle relatively to the shaft of the rear propeller may be changed, and as the pressure exerted by the rear propeller will be transmitted through the shafts 2-l-28 to the forward bracket 32, the ma chine will be guided in a vertical direction accordingto the adjustment of the shaft 28, and the planes (hereinafter to be described) caused to assume an altered angle to the horizontal and thus the machine may be caused to rise or descend. For the purpose of shifting the baror shaft 28 as above described, a wheel 33 may be suitably mounted between the decks 8-9 and connected, by a rod 3a, with said bar or shaft.

A vertical shaft 35 is mounted centrally in the framework and to this shaft, upper and lower horizontally disposed propellers 3? are secured,--said propellers serving to assist in causing the ascent of the machine; to'assist in sustaining the same in the air, and in controlling the speed of descent of the machine,-thus renderingthe launching and landing' of the machine safe and easily controlled. F or the purpose of drivinn; the vertical shaft of the horizontal pro pellers. a suitable number of motors 38 (three being shown in the drawing) may be employed and suitably geared to said shaft. In order that the lifting power of the horizontal propellers may be transmitted to the framework. a collar 39 may be secured to shaft 35 and adapted to bear upwardly against the upper member 5 of the framework.

For the purpose of sustaining the machine when in flight, a plurality of planes will be en'iployed and in order that they may be controlled cause them to effectually sustain the weight of the machine in the air and balance the machine, at least some of said planes are made in sections, as clearly shown in Figure A. plane -10 is located upon the top of the framework and may be provided with openings -11 so as not to interfere with the access of air to the propeller 36.

A. fixed inclined plane 42 is located at the fmrward end of the frame between the upper frame extension 13 and the upper frame member 5". Fixed inclined planes 43- 43 are also located between the upper frame member 5 and the upper deck 11, and fixed inclined planes 44"l4lare also located between the decks 7 and 8. Inclined planes 4-5 are located between the deck 7 and the bottom member 6 of the framework and rigidly secured to both. A fixed inclined plane 42 is also secured to lower frame extension 1.4; and a bracket 412 depending from the lower frame member 6.

Between the decks 8--9, 9-l0, and 10-11, three sets of planes 1-6, 47, 48 are disposed, each of said planes being hinged at one end to one of said decks, and the other ends of the hinged planes the three sets are connected with vertically shiftable bars 49. For the pnrposeof shifting these bars to change the angle of the hinged planes and thus control the flight of the machine, hand wheels 50 are provided and connected with said shiftable bars by means of links 51.

In order to increase the power of the machine to carry large cargoes and to travel at great speed, I employ pneumatic propelling and lifting instrumentalities, and these will now be explained.

' A plurality of fans or blowers 52 is sup ported on a swinging frame 53 disposed between the decks 7 and 8 and with these blowers, intake tubes or stacks 53 communicate, said tubes or stacks extending upwardly through the decks 8, '9, 10 and 11 and through the upper frame member 5 and are open at their upper ends. Discharge pipes 54L communicate with the blowers 52 and discharge at the rear end of'the machine. The fans or blowers 52 are driven by suitable motors, such as illustrated at 55 and they serve to take air from the upper part of the machine and discharge the same with'sufiicient force rearwardly to propel the machine forwardly by the impact of such discharged air against the atmosphere. The operation of the fans or blowers in forcibly ejecting the air rearuuufdly of the machine willv cause a backward pressure against the blowers, and the latter being mounted upon a swii'iging frame, the pressure may be transmitted to the forward end of the machine. For this purpose, a rod 55 is connected with the several blowers 52 and with this red, a shaft or rod 56 is loosely connected, the forward end of said shaft or rod being adjustably connected with the forward part of themachine. In effecting such adjustable connection of the shaft or rod 56 with the frame, a pinion 5'7 is mounted near the forward end of said shaft or rod and meshes with a rack 58 which constitutes the part of a frame 55) secured to the front of the frame of the machine. The shaft or rod 56 is connected with the hand wheel 33 by means of a link 60, so that when said wheel is turned, the shaft or rod 56will be adjusted to properly take the backward thrust or pressure and transmit the same to the front of the machine, said wheel being manipulated by the operator when the angle of inclination of the machine, when in flight, changes.

7 Other blowers 61 drivenby motors 62 are disposed between the decks '?-8 and are supported by rods 6 suspended from the upper member 5 of the framework. Air intake pipes or stacks 63 extend from these blowers to the upper part of the machine, and pipes Get communicating with said blow- (ll discharge the air with considerable pressure downwardly against the air under the machine. The forcible downward. discharge of air from the pipes 64 will serve to cause the machine to rise and a diminution of such pressure will assist in effecting gradual descent of the. machine. The backward pressure against the blowers 61 will be in an'upwa-rd direction and such pressure will be t 'ansmitted to the upper part of the machine by the'rods 62.

It will be understood that certain of the decks and planes will be made with suitable opemngs for the accommodation of the stacks 533 655 and rods 62.

In the space between the lower deck 7 and the bottom member 6 of the frame (which space constitutes the hold of the machine) a swinging frame is located and supports blowers as illustrated at 66 Figure 1. Forwardly projecting intake pipes 67 communicate with these blowers, and discharge pipes 68 extend rearwardly therefrom and forcibly eject the air rearwardly of the machine to add to the propulsion of the latter. The backward thrust or pressure of the blowers 66 will be transmitted to the forward part of the machine by means of rods such as shown at 69,-the rear ends of said rods being secured to said blowers and their forward ends being secured to the front part of the framework.

For the purpose of operating the rudder to steer the machine, a hand wheel 70 may be provided, said wheel having connected therewith, two chains 7171 which extend in opposite directions from said wheel and after passing over pulleys 72 mounted on the frame, are connected with the rudder. Thus by turning the hand wheel 70 in one direction or the other, sufficient power will be transmitted to the rudder properly to shift the same.

' The decks and bottom member of the frame maybe provided with separated slats to form floors and the main frame of the machine may be enclosed by wire netting.

Legs 73 may be secured to the bottom member of the frame for supporting the -machine when at rest upon the ground.

It will be observed that with my improvements all the forwardly propelling force is imparted to the front part of the machine, and that all the lifting or elevating force bears at the top or upper part of the framework. It will also be observed that the up per propeller is located in the space between the upper members 5 and 5 of the framework and that said upper and lower propellers are disposed in rear of the fixed planes as and a2 respectively,-which planes form parts of the framework. Any suitable means may be provided for controlling the motors and blowers.

Various changes might be made in the details of construction of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope and hence I do not wish to restrict myself to the precise details here in set forth.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. In a flying machine, the combination of a frame, a blower, means for operating the blower, an intake stack communicating with the blower and extending to the upper portion of the frame, a discharge pipe communicating with said blower and arranged to project air downwardly from the machine, and a rod suspended from the upper portion of the machine and secured to said blower, whereby the back pressure against the blower will be transmitted to the upper portion of the frame.

2. In a flying machine, the combination of a frame, a blower, means for movably mounting said blower, means for operating the blower, an intake pipe for the blower, a rearwardly projecting discharge pipe communicating with the blower, and means for transmitting back pressure against the movable blower to the forward part of the frame.

3. In a flying machine, the combination of a main frame, a. swinging frame mounted therein, a blower mounted on said swinging frame, an intake for the blower, means for operatingthe blower, a discharge pipe communicating with the blower and adapted to project air rea-rwardly of the machine, and means connecting said blower and swinging frame with the forward part of the machine, whereby back pressure on said blower will be transmitted to the forward part of the main frame.

a. In. a flying machine, the combination of a frame, a swinging frame mounted therein, a blower mounted on said swinging frame, an intake for said blower, a discharge pipe connected with said blower and extending toward the rear end of the machine, a rod having its rear end loosely connected with said blower, means adjustably connecting said rod with the forward part of the frame, and manually operable means for adjusting said rod up and down.

5. In a flying machine, the combination of a frame, a rear propeller, a shaft for said propeller, means for, driving said shaft, a rod loosely connected with the propeller shaft and adjustably connected with the forward portion of the frame, and manually operable means for adjusting said rod up and down to change its angle relatively to the propeller shaft.

6. In a flying machine, the combination of a main frame, a rear propeller, a. shaft therefor, means for driving the propeller shaft, a forward frame secured to the main frame and having a rack bar, a rod loosely connected with the propeller shaft and extending to the rack bar of said forward frame, a pinion carried by said rod to mesh with said rack bar, and manually operable means connected with said rod to adjust the same up and down.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib ing witnesses.

ISRAEL WILLIAMS Witnmses:

JoHN W. MANSON, Ennnsrmn NORTON. 

